Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005
20. Offences by
companies.-
1.
Where
an offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who at
the time the offence was committed was in charge of, and was responsible to,
the company for the conduct of the business of the company as well as the
company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be
proceeded against and punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing
contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any
punishment, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge
or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such
offence.
2.
Notwithstanding
anything contained in sub-section (1), where any offence under this Act has
been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been
committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to, any neglect
on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the
company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall be deemed to
be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and
punished accordingly. Explanation.-For the purposes of this section-
a. "company"
means anybody corporate and includes a firm and other association of
individuals; and
b. "director",
in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.